Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1887-04-14
For the Ellsworth American
The Climate of Oregon.
OREGON. Mar. II. ls>7.


M Edt"r:
\ few days ago, read in an eastern
paper letter, written evidently by resi-
dent of the far West, in which the state
lnent was made that the climate of the
Pacific coast, north Of California is
hamtd. The expression provoked a smile,
because it 50 faithfully illustrated the
western acutcnc>S in choosing terms to
describe that country which the inhabi-
taut> desire to make known a. the one
especially favored, Of infinite resources
and exceeding promise. Such terms,
suppose. have caused many man TO leave
a good position and move across the con-
tlnont AT sacrifice OF property, friends.
and comfort. only to find, after rcachin.
hi> destination that. instead Of coming to
the place where his honest and ambitions
desires could be- realized. he had actually
fled from it No man ever came west
without being surprised at the appearance
Of The country and the state of the buei-
ness. In spite of all he had read to the
contrary. he learned with sadness upon his
arrival. that FL Dorado was ~till beyond.
In all the literature descriptive Of the
west there i All unmi>takahle tendency to
cNaggcratc. or if not 10 60 10 that extent.
to tell facts in >uch manner. robbed Of
attending qualities. a. to give an untrue
picture and lead the reader entirely astrav.
Notwithstanding hi, breadth Of reading
and the knowledge he has gained by CON
ycr~atipn with western travellers. hi, idea
of the reality i certain To- be distorted,
and hc j. doomed to temporary di>appoint-
mcnt al least. when he ilr,t finds himself
gazing at the strange landscape. and
marking the new manners and customs
Whether or not the WORT huiah fully
describe, tn, climate of that narrow strip
of land hordcrin. on the Pacific and cx-
tending north from California can be
answered by briefly tallin. what that eli
mate l., In doing this | shall confne my
self t. oregon. for 80 far a. the climate
is concerned what j. true of that state, j.
true Of the country farther north.
Now, you must remember that Oregon
ha> a coast line Of three hundred miles
ami an extent inland OF three hundred and
fifty miles thar the Cascade Range divides
this great area into two unequal portions
the eastern being about twice the Size Of
the WESTERN and that the difference Of
latitude the mountains. the japanese cur
rent flowing along the coast. the eastern
and northern winds and the western and
southern winds have a wonderful effect up
on the climate The warm current from
Japan strikes the western point Of Alaska,
winds round the coast. and continues its
course eouthwarl a. far a. South America.
1t moderate, considerably The climate in
winter even a. far north H. Bchring Strait.
ON the Columbia River last year, the
mercury wcir down only to nineteen de-
grcc~ above zero and this winter, an eX-
traordinarly cold one a. in the east, it
reached no lower than eight degrees above
zero This high temperature i not al
together the effect Of the warm ocean cur
rent for that huge barrier, the Cascade
Range wards off in part the cold winds
from the north and east
In summer the wind comes cool and in
MIGRATING from the ocean, and the days
are cloudlc>s for months. The smoke
from hundreds Of forest fires hangs 50
dense over the country that sometimes one
can scarcely see more than a mile away.
\ drought in the east quite faithfully
represents the scene.
But in the winter, when the wind blows
from the east. the climate makes decided
change. and then its humidUy becomes
apparent. Towards the latter part OF
October, the air begins to grow damp, the
sky hazv. and a. the darkness of night ap-
proache~. thick fog from the ocean rolls
slowly up the river. The moon when
visible. is ever surrounded by light cir
Gle supposed in the east to be indicative
of a storm. The mornings are often
cloudy, and sometimes there is rain, As
the forenoon passes, however, the clouds
grow thinner, till by and by the sun peers
through, and soon the sky Is clear; but
this rarely continues later than the middle
of the afternoon at which time the haze
again appears, the fog shows itself above
the western hills, and the evening comes
| on early. Every succeeding day there is
more fog or mist or rain, and, as the
month of November is ushered in the
rainy season comes In with her, And then
does the word humid betray its inability to
| describe the true character of the climate.
| From this time till February, the sun Is
scarcely ever visible.
Oh, the rain! the dreary, monotonous,
| interminable rain 1t patters or roars up
/ on the roof. 1t makes the roads almost
impossible so deep Is the mud 1t sweiis
/ the brooks to torrents, raises the river high
I han ST